首页 -> 2007年第9期
纽约婚礼见闻（一）
作者：杨思晴
伴郎（groomsman）和伴娘(bridesmaid)
西方人在挑选伴郎和伴娘的人选时，是非常苛刻的。首先，新人要优先考虑选自己的兄弟姐妹这种有血缘关系的人来做伴郎、伴娘。如果你是独生子女，那么伴郎伴娘一定要从最好的朋友中挑选。如果婚礼规模比较盛大，伴郎和伴娘可能不止一对。我这次参加的婚礼，就是伴郎、伴娘总共四对。通常来讲，如果你有多位伴郎、伴娘的话，新人还要在男方女方中各选出一位和自己关系最亲密的人，作为荣誉伴娘（the maid of honor）和荣誉伴郎（the best man）。在婚礼上，这两个人分别站在新人的身边，伴郎还同时被称为the ring bearer，专门负责替新郎保管双方的婚戒。
荣誉伴郎（the best man）
今天我们聚焦的重点人物，是新郎的好兄弟——荣誉伴郎史蒂芬。要说史蒂芬在婚礼当中的表现可不是盖的！要是在Wedding Party这帮人当中，评选出几个特殊贡献奖项的话，他绝对可以拿个超级无敌称职奖。
史蒂芬是个很开朗健谈的人，第一次见到他，就是在忙碌的人群中被他揪住说的话:
Steve:“是Sally吗？我是Steve。能在这里见到你真好！谢谢你提前教我说那句中文，我觉得我说的还蛮煞有介事的，哈哈……”
Sally:“是吗？那太好了。对了，我不得不说，你写的致词简直太牛了！非常专业，而且面面俱到！”
Steve:“那是、那是，我可是做了很多功课的呢。哈哈。”
Sally:“嗯，功课没白做，都把我给看哭了，够煽情的。哦对了，戒指是由你保管吧，呵呵？”
Steve:“那是，两个都在我这儿呢！除了戒指，我还特意备了些‘秘密小武器’呢……” 他越说越起劲儿，如数家珍地搬出了各种小道具，“这个清口喷雾，是为了新郎亲吻新娘准备的。餐巾纸包是以备不时之需。今天激动的人一定特别多，擦眼泪就用的着了……” 感情Steve也是个Mommy型的心细男生啊！这，这……连我们女孩儿都没想到！真是难为他了。
为了准备祝酒词，史蒂芬可是下足了工夫。先是专门买来相关写作书籍，闭门潜心钻研。又在动笔之前特意飞到休斯顿，在准新郎、新娘那里小住了一周时间，以搜集齐备各种信息资源。他老人家早在八百年前开始着手写稿，早在七百年前就将扬扬洒洒的千字祝福背了个滚瓜烂熟。那天他无比兴奋地告诉我，为了做到精益求精，他还在家中专门用DV自拍了短片，用来反复推敲自己的镜头感觉。这分明比专业演员还要敬业嘛！简直让我崇拜不已。
细心的史蒂芬为了让女方父母第一时间读懂自己的祝词，早在六百年前就提前布置人马进行了英译中的工作。宴会还没开始，祝酒词的普通话版本文字稿，就已静静地候在桌前，等待凌凌父母审阅了。当然，为了可以让二老听到亲切的乡音，史蒂芬早在五百年前就向我询问并学习了“幸福美满”的中文读法。果然，在经过了这一切的精心准备之后，荣誉伴郎情深款款、幽默诙谐的祝酒词一经出炉，就引来了众人阵阵热烈的掌声。
史蒂芬的致词
【原声重现】
Ling and Erik... please join me here for a moment.As I start my speech, if anyone would feel more comfortable reading, Vivian and Sally were kind enough to translate both Lori and my speech into Mandarin Chinese and you can find copies of our speeches on your tables.
Ling& Erik,
My name is Stephen Levine and it is my honor to be Erik's best man.
I'd like to start by thanking Mr. and Mrs. Li for hosting such a beautiful wedding and reception.Because of distance and a language barrier, I haven't had as much of an opportunity as I would have liked to have gotten to know you over the years... but if how a child turns out is any measure of a parent, the loving, kind, supportive, patient and generous woman that Ling has become is the result of her upbringing in your household.And I think we all see the value Ling has in the importance of a close and strong family, by asking Erik's sister Lori to be her maid of honor. And for raising her so well, and allowing my friend to find a woman as good as Ling, for that, both Erik's family and friends thank you.
I'd also like to thank Mr. and Mrs. Sondersted for their hard work and support in making today a special day.I've known them for over a decade now and they have always opened their home to me over the years.They taught Erik the importance of strong moral conviction and strength of character and provided him with the backbone that allowed him to grow into the man he is today.
I'd also like to thank all of Ling's and Erik's family and friends here today that I did not mention.Your presence here means so much to Ling and Erik and I know some of you have traveled great distances to be here today.